CHfour:
My old company had an SOP to have the landing lights on below FL100. My current company (LOCO) likes them off as much as possible to save bulbs.
Are aircraft bulbs that unreliable then? The ones used on cars seem to be amazingly reliable considering the vibration and other environmental factors. Granted that aviation is probably worse, but mechanical damage is going to happen whether the bulbs are powerd or not. Or is your current company concerned that it might have to upload a couple pounds more fuel to keep them on for a few more minutes?
JayEmKay:
a flock of Canada geese was illuminated flying directly through the display and heading for the lake half a mile away. Their deviation due to the fireworks - absolutely nil.
I've seen quotes from WW2 bomber pilots who say that taking a straight course through the flak was best because it provided minimum time in the target area. Perhaps geese work the same way?
(OK, if it's targetted flak or you get coned by searchlights then you'd better evade)
Birds in general don't seem to cope very well with high-speed objects - even when faced with a car they react very late sometimes, and a few don't make it. I assume this is evolution, in that they've never needed to react to something that big and fast.